Nathaniel Tilden

1. NATHANIAL TILDEN of Tenterden, yeoman, and Seven children, Seven servants, LYDIA his wife are listed as passengers of The Good Ship Hercules In 1634,
http://www.open-sandwich.co.uk/town_history/hercules.htm
http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/hercules1.htm

From Nancy R Purchase:

Biography

Nathaniel Tilden b. July 28, 1583 in Tenterden, Kent, England, baptized July 28, 1583 at St. Mildred's Church, Tenterden, Kent, England d. July 31, 1641 in Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts buried in Men of Kent Cemetery, Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Parents: Thomas Tilden June 21, 1551-June 6, 1617 and Alice Bigge c.1542 in England, d. England

Wife: Lydia Hucksteppe February 11, 1587 Kent, England, baptized February 11, 1587; d. July 31, 1672 Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Married in 1605 in Tenterden, Kent, England.

Children: (more research needed on children and spouses)

1. Elizabeth Tilden c.1603-c.1627, m. William Bassett, Jr.
2. Mary Tilden c.1604-c.1656, m. Thomas Lapham, Sr. and William Bassett, Jr.
3. Thomas Tilden 1608-January 19, 1618
4. Mary Tilden May 20, 1610-March 1690, m. Thomas Lapham
5. Sarah Tilden June 13, 1613-March 20, 1677, m. George Ambrose Sutton, her father's indentured servant
6. Joseph Tilden April 20, 1615-June 3, 1670, m. Elizabeth Alice Twisden
7. Nathanial Tilden b. 1618, m. Lydia Bourne [NO - this was Thomas]
8. Thomas Tilden October 23, 1608 in Tenterden, Kent, England. He was baptised at St Mildred's Church on 23 Oct 1608 in Tenterden, Kent, England. He died on 19 Jan 1618/19 in Tenterden, Kent, England. m. Elizabeth Bourne and Mary Holmes
9. Winifred Tilden October 20, 1620-September 14, 1627
10. Judith Tilden October 22, 1620-March 30, 1663, m. Abraham Prebble
11. Lydia Tilden b. September 28, 1625, m. Richard Garrett
12. Stephen Tilden October 11, 1629-August 22, 1711, m. Hannah Little

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Comments

Nathaniel Tilden came to New England on the ship Hercules in 1634/35. It is not his nickname. From: Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1996): A reprinting (Alphabetical by Surname), of the Sixteen Multi- Ancestor Compendia (Plus Thomas Haley...), Walter Goodwin Davis, Vol. II Gen. Pub. Co. Inc., Balti., 1996, p.220-219 HATCH (Ancestry Joseph Neal). Reproduced on Bronderbund Software Family Archive CD #194 (Mass. & Maine Genealogies 1650's-1930's).

The 1664 will of Thomas Bourne had been misinterpreted, and gave genealogists the impression there had been a (fictional) daughter Lydia Bourne who married either the Elder Nathaniel Bourne or his (fictional) son Nathaniel Tilden ll.

The expression "my Daughter Tildin: Daughter Lydia Tildin" means, and perhaps should be read, "my daughter Tildin's daughter Lydia Tildin," in other words, his granddaughter Lydia, child of his daughter Elizabeth (Bourne) (Waterman) Tilden; and it will be noted that Elizabeth's four Waterman boys were given legacies in the same paragraph immediately following Lydia's legacy. The ambiguity of the Tilden clause has caused many genealogists to conclude that Thomas Bourne had a daughter Lydia, but care-, ful study of the records fails to substantiate the existence of such a daughter.

Therefore -

• Lydia Bourne did not exist (she was her sister Elizabeth)
• Nathaniel Tilden Jr did not exist (he was his brother Thomas, who married Elizabeth (Bourne), widow Waterman)

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Supporting data

• The New England historical and genealogical register (1847) Vol. LXV
• https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1911wate
• https://archive.org/stream/newenglandhistor1911wate#page/330/mode/1up
• Pg.330
• 3. THOMAS TILDEN of Tenterden, the testator of 1616-17, born probably at Benenden after 1541, was buried at Wye 6 June 1617. He married first at Tenterden. 10 Mar. 1576-7, ALICE BIGGS, who was buried at Tenterden 13 May 1593 ; married secondly, 13 Nov. 1593, ELLEN EVERNDEN, widow, of Rolvinden. The date of her death is unknown, but Thomas Tilden left a widow ALICE, probably the mother of his son Freegift. Between 1604 and 1614 Thomas Tilden left Tenterden, and moved perhaps to East Guilford in Sussex, not far across the border from Tenterden, as he owned lands there. What reason he had for moving to Wye does not appear.
• Children by first wife, baptized at Tenterden :
  • i. SARA, bapt. 30 Aug. 1579; m. probably, 20 Nov. 1600, John Stanshame; not mentioned in his father's will,
  • ii. ABIGAIL, bapt. 26 Feb. 1581-2; bur. at Tenterden 5 Aug. 1582.
  • 4. iii. NATHANIELL. bapt. 28 July 1583.
  • iv. JOSEPH, bapt. 28 Nov. 1585; citizen and girdler of London; will dated 1 Feb. 1642. (See Waters's Gleanings, vol. 1, p. 71.)
  • 5. v. HOPESTILL. bapt. 1 May 1588.
  • vi. THEOPHILUS, bapt. 11 Oct. 1590; not mentioned in his father's will,
  • vii. THOMAS, bapt. 1 May 1593; m. and had a son Samuel, bapt. at Wye 5 Feb. 1617-18. Samuel and his daus. Anne and Elizabeth are mentioned in the will of his uncle Hopestill, 1661.
• Child, either by second or third wife, baptized at Tenterden :
  • viii. FREEGIFT, bapt. 20 May 1604; living in 1660. (See Waters's Gleanings, vol. 2, p. 1305.)
• https://archive.org/stream/newenglandhistor1911wate#page/331/mode/1up
• Pg.331
• 4. NATHANIEL TILDEN, baptized at Tenterden 28 July 1583. came to New England in the Hercules in March 1634-5, with wife, seven children, and seven servants ; settled at Scituate ; and died, probably at Scituate, between 25 May and 31 July 1641. He married in England Lydia, who, Savage thinks, was perhaps daughter of Thomas Bourne. But as Thomas Bourne was born about 1581, he would have been only twenty-seven when Nathaniel Tilden's eldest child was born, and therefore Savage's conjecture is wrong. The "son Tilden " referred to in Thomas Bourne's will, made in 1664 (see Pope's Pioneers of Massachusetts), could not have been Nathaniel, who had been dead twenty-three years, but was probably Thomas Tilden, son of Nathaniel and husband of Elizabeth Bourne. ....
• Children, baptized at Tenterden :
  • i. THOMAS, bapt. 23 Oct. 1608 ; bur. at Tenterden 19 Jan. 1618-19.
  • ii. MARY, bapt. 20 May 1610; came with her father to New England; m. 13 Mar. 1636-7, THOMAS LAPHAM.
  • iii. JOSEPH, bapt. 12 Jan. 1611-12; bur. at Tenterden 15 Mar. 1611-12.
  • iv. SARAH, bapt. 13 June 1613 ; came with her father to New England; m. 13 Mar. 1636-7, GEORGE SUTTON.
  • v. JOSEPH, bapt. 29 Apr. 1615 ; came with his father to New England; m. 20 Nov. 1649 ALICE or ELIZABETH* TWISDEN, widow or daughter of John: lived in Scituate.
  • vi. STEPHEN, bapt. 31 Mar. 1617 ; bur. at Tenterden 21 Oct. 1619.
  • vii. THOMAS, bapt. 19 Jan. 1618-19; came with his father to New England; m. ELIZABETH (BOURNE) WATERMAN, widow of Robert Waterman and daughter of Thomas Bourne of Marshfield ; lived at Marshfield.
  • viii. JUDITH, bapt. 22 Oct. 1020; came with her father to New England; m. ABRAHAM PREBLE.
  • ix. WINIFRED, bapt. 20 Oct. 1622; bur. at Tenterden 14 Sept. 1627.
  • x. LYDIA, bapt. 30 May 1624; bur. at Tenterden 15 Sept. 1624.
  • xi. LYDIA, bapt. 28 Sept. 1625; came with her father to New England; m. RICHARD GARRETT.
  • xii. STEPHEN, bapt. 11 Oct. 1628; came with his father to New England; m. 25 Jan. 1661-2, HANNAH LITTLE; lived at Marshfield.

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Nathaniel was Town Officer and Ruling Elder about 1640.

He signed a will on 25 May 1641. Nathaniel had an estate probated on 31 Jul 1641. Background on his family is given in NEHGR 65:322, 75:226, and 114:153. Tilden came to New England in the Hercules 1634-35 accompanied by his wife Lydia (Huckstep), seven children, and seven servants. He settled in Scituate and he probably died there between May and July of 1641. All the children of Nathaniel and Lydia Tilden were born in England, five dying there prior to the family’s departure. The children were Thomas, who died young; Mary, who married Thomas Lapham; Joseph, who died young; Sarah who married George Sutton; Joseph, who married Alice or Elizabeth Twisden; Stephen, who died young; Thomas, who married Elizabeth (Bourne) Waterman; Judith, who married Abraham Preble; Winifred, who died young; Lydia, who died young; Lydia who married Richard Garrett; and Stephen, who married Hannah Little. Mary and Sarah were married on the same day, 13 March 1636-37 (NEHGR 9:286), and their husbands were Tilden’s servants. After his death, his widow Lydia married Timothy Hatherly. Elizabeth French shows in NEHGR 70:256 that Lydia (Huckstep) (Tilden) Hatherly was a cousin of Thomas Hatch, q.v., who also came to New England in the Hercules and settled at Scituate. Tilden was of the gentry and addressed as "Mr,", and he was one of the wealthier Scituate residents. He dated his will 25 May 1641, inventory 31 July 1641, and he names his wife Lydia and his children Stephen; Lydia; Joseph; Thomas; Judith; Mary, the wife of Thomas Lapham; and Sarah, the wife of George Sutton; and he also mentioned two indentured servants, Edward Jenkins and Edward Tarte." (MD 3:220) (Plymouth Colony Biographical Sketches)

Disputed Legends

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tilden-6

Some (not all) of these extracted from August 25, 1876 issue of THE CARROLL COUNTY TIMES (on microfilm):

• Nathaniel's brother Joseph was one of the "merchant adventurers" who fitted out the May Flower which brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth.
• Nathaniel Tilden, brother of Joseph, came over in the good shippe "Anne." [wrong; he came on the Hercules]
• The family was well connected in England and by marriage was related to Oliver Cromwell, the "Protector"
• The Tilden line runs back to Sir Richard Tilden, who accompanied Richard I of England, the renowned Coeur de Lion, to the holy land and fought by his side at the Battle of Ascalon against Sultan Saladin in the twelfth century.
• Tennis player "Bill" William Tatem Tilden is a descendant.
• The Davis Cup was started by Dwight Davis in about 1900 - his mother was presumably a Tilden.

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Unsourced Ancestries

One proposed ancestry:

• 1293 Henry de Tildenne, Sutton de la Hone, Kent.
• 1315 Thomas de Tilden, son of Walter, Marden, Kent.
• 1510 Richard Tylden of Tenterden.
• 1544 John Tylden of Cranbrook.
• Nathaniel Tilden, babt. July 28, 1583 at Tenterden.

Another proposed Ancestry:

• 1320 John(1) Tilden born in Marden, Kent Co; died about 1370; married Isolde Reve about 1341, born about 1320.

Another proposed ancestry:[14]

• Sir Richard de Tylden was Seneschal to Hugh de Lacy, Constable of Chester, during the reign of Henry II of England ca 1153-1189, Richard is said to have accompanied King Richard I (Cour de Lion) on crusade to Palestine. His son was probably:
• Sir Richard of Sittenbourne who m Gertrude dau of Sir Wm Vernon of Fordsham, Cheshire. They had: ….

Another proposed ancestry (which makes far more sense):

• The Tildens of America can trace their lineage back by authentic records to John Tilden, an influential clothier of Benenden, who was born about the year 1400. He was the direct progenitor of Nathaniel Tilden...

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References

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8650673/nathaniel-tilden
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tilden-6 cites
   1. [Anderson citing NEHGr 65:326]
   2. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, pg.762
   3. Canterbury Cathedral Archives Kent Marriages And Banns FindMyPast (Subscription)
   4. http://www.open-sandwich.co.uk/town_history/hercules.htm
   5. Laphams in America, Compiled and written by Bertha Bortle Beal Aldridge. Victor, New York 1932-1953
   6. "History of Marshfield", by Lysander Richards
   7. [Anderson citing Plymouth Colony Probate 1:37]
   8. Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Research in England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 65 (1911) 314-33, at 331; images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/newenglandhisto62unkngoog : accessed 29 May 2022).
   9. Abstract of the Earliest Wills in the Probate Office, Plymouth in NEHGR, volume 4, April 1850, p. 173
   10. Find A Grave: Memorial #8650673
   11. Ancestral Records and Portraits, pp. 692-693
   12. Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts
   13. Water's Gleanings, vol. 1, p. 71
   14. The present Sir John Maxwell Tilden, of Milsted in Kent, has in his possession a copy of an ancient pedigree which began with Sir Richard Tylden, who lived under the reigns of Henry II and Richard I, a period which extended from 1154 to 1189, and his armorial bearings are said to show that his ancestors intermarried with the first Norman Earl of Chester, a nephew of William the Conqueror.
   15. "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NT2R-9QD : 30 December 2014), Nathaniell Tilden in entry for Joseph Tilden, 12 Jan 1611; citing Tenterden, Kent, England, reference Dcb/Bti/237/4; FHL microfilm 1,737,094.
   16. Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691.
   17. 1643 Able to Bear Arms list George Sutton and Symon Sutton.
   18. "English Origins of New England Families," First Series, Volume ?, by Genealogical Publishing Company, a collection of articles of NEHGR.
   19. Deane, History of Scituate, 353 ff.)[NEHGR, Oct. 1911, p. 331
   20. Baltimore Sun, Dec. 11, 1904
   21. "The Life and Letters of Samuel Jones Tilden" by John Bigelow, L.L.D. Edited by Harper Bros. New York
   22. Anderson: Robert Charles Anderson, "Nathaniel Tilden", The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, Vol. VII, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society 2011. pp. 42 - 46
   23. Taylor, Edward R. & West, Randy A., Updates to the Ancestry of Brothers Thomas¹ and William¹ Hatch of Scituate, Massachusetts, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2020) Vol. 174, Page 307.
   24. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9ZHZ-DGX